SpiNNaker Home Page

SpiNNaker is a novel computer architecture inspired by the working of the human brain.

A SpiNNaker machine is a massively parallel computing platform, targeted towards
three main areas of research:

Neuroscience: Understanding how the brain works is a Grand Challenge of 21st
century science. We will provide the platform
to help neuroscientists to unravel the mystery that is the mind. The largest SpiNNaker
machine will be capable of simulating a billion simple neurons, or millions of neurons
with complex structure and internal dynamics.

Robotics: SpiNNaker is a good target for researchers in robotics, who need mobile,
low power computation. A small SpiNNaker board makes it possible to simulate a network
of tens of thousands of spiking neurons, process sensory input and generate motor
output, all in real time and in a low power system.

Computer Science: SpiNNaker breaks the rules followed by traditional
supercomputers that rely on deterministic, repeatable communications and
reliable computation. SpiNNaker nodes communicate using simple messages
(spikes) that are inherently unreliable. This break with determinism offers new
challenges, but also the potential to discover powerful new principles of
massively parallel computation.